Interpreting Apocalyptic Symbolism in the Gospel of Matthew · · 2018-02-19scientific models and employ language of “religious experience ” See Mark Batluck, “Religious Experience

Bulletin for Biblical Research 22 4 (2012) 525545

Interpreting Apocalyptic Symbolism in the Gospel of Matthew

daniel m gurtnerbethel seminary

The appearance of apocalyptic symbols is common in NT narratives, including in the Gospel of Matthew. But the identification and interpretation of such sym-bols is frequently allusive, indeterminate, and even contradictory in scholarly discussion. The purpose of this article is to offer some methodological controls for interpreting these texts. Drawing on seminal work done on apocalypses as a genre and their constituent features, this article posits that the employment of symbols is a defining element of apocalypses that provides an important point of entry for the identification and interpretation of apocalyptic symbols in the Gospel of Matthew. These symbols can be interpreted in a manner similar to that employed for formal apocalypses, in which interpreters seek to determine the referent of the symbol employed. Yet the distinction in genre between an apocalypse and a bios warrants careful attention to the function of the apocalyptic symbol in the Gospel narrative. This method is demonstrated on a text frequently described as apocalyptic (Matt 27:5154).

Key Words: Matthew, interpretation, apocalyptic, symbolism, Revelation, veil

Introduction

Interpreting apocalyptic symbolism in Matthew seems to be a contradic-tion in terms And, ironically, it is precisely this confusion in terminology that has led to confusion in interpretation Matthew is not an apocalypse 1

1

Authors note: This paper expands on some hermeneutical underpinnings of my The Torn Veil: Matthews Exposition of the Death of Jesus (SNTSMS 139; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) An earlier draft was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (New Orleans, 2009) Thanks to the conveners of the Hermeneutics Section for their invitation to speak on this topic, especially W Edward Glenny and Jim DeYoung Thanks also to Darrell L Bock and Wesley Olmstead, who responded to the paper and offered a number of helpful correctives

However, cf N T Wright (The Resurrection of the Son of God [Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003] 620) who argues that another Gospel, Mark, is an apocalypse designed to unveil the truth about who Jesus is through a series of revelatory moments Cf also his New Testament and the People of God (London: SPCK, 1992) 39096

Bulletin for Biblical Research 22.4526

but a bios, an ancient biography of Greco-Roman form 2 So how can we speak of apocalyptic with respect to Matthews Gospel? The subject has been variously understood While many works touch on apocalyptic ele-ments in various places within the Gospel, only a few studies discuss the subject of apocalypticism in Matthew in its own right 3 P Hadfield calls Matthew the Apocalyptic Editor 4 Leopold Saboulin dubs Matthew the most apocalyptic of the evangelists 5 and recognizes what he calls apoc-alyptic traits Don Hagner says that Matthew uses apocalyptic motifs and suggests Matthew is the apocalyptic Gospel Nearly every major sec-tion of the Gospel bears the stamp of apocalyptic in one way or another 6 C Rowland sidesteps the issue by referring in his 1994 JTS article simply to Apocalyptic 7 David C Sim gives extensive treatment to the subject in terms of Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew, the title of his 1996 monograph 8 But what these and other authors mean by their terms is neither clear nor uniform It is also unclear if and how significant advances in scholarly discourse on apocalypticism may have a role in interpreting apocalyptic features in narratives such as Matthews Gospel My objective here is to demonstrate the need for greater clarity in the use of terminol-ogy and glean from advances in the study of apocalypses as a genre for our discussion I will argue that analysis of interpreting symbolism within apocalypses proper can provide helpful heuristic tools for identifying and interpreting apocalyptic symbols in the Gospel of Matthew I will then demonstrate the utility of these tools to provide a methodologically con-trolled foundation for interpreting an apocalyptic symbol in Matthew Let me begin our discussion by mapping where scholars have gone in this discussion, after which I will attempt to sort through the material with some critique and analysis and then move the discussion forward with a hermeneutical method that can be taken to the first Gospel

2 See Richard A Burridge, What Are the Gospels? A Comparison with Greco-Roman Biog-raphy (2nd ed ; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004)

3 They are, in the order of their appearance, P Hadfield, Matthew the Apocalyptic Editor, London Quarterly & Holborn Review 184 (1959) 12832; Leopold Sabourins Apoca-lyptic Traits in Matthews Gospel, Religious Studies Bulletin 3 (1983) 1936; D A Hagners Apocalyptic Motifs in the Gospel of Matthew: Continuity and Discontinuity, HBT 7 (1985) 5382; Christopher Rowland, Apocalyptic, the Poor, and the Gospel of Matthew, JTS n s 45 2 (1994) 50418, D C Sims Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew (SNTSMS 88; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) Some more recent approaches employ social-scientific models and employ language of religious experience See Mark Batluck, Religious Experience in New Testament Research, CBR 9 (2011) 33963

4 Hadfield, Matthew the Apocalyptic Editor, 12832 5 Sabourin, Apocalyptic Traits, 19 6 Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs, 60 Hagner acknowledges the works of Hadfield and

Sabourin, mentioned above 7 Rowland, Apocalyptic, the Poor, and the Gospel of Matthew, 50418 8 Another pertinent article is by A G van Aarde, Matthew and Apocalypticism as the

Mother of Christian Theology: Ernst Ksemann Revisited, HvTSt 58 (2002) 11842 Here the author looks to reevaluate Ksemanns presumption that conflict arose between charismatic law-free Jesus followers (Paul) and apocalyptically oriented Jesus followers The discussion is not immediately relevant to ours

Gurtner: Apocalyptic Symbolism in the Gospel of Matthew 527

Survey of Scholarship

In a very short article appearing in 1959, P Hadfield observes the presence of apocalyptic material in Matthean redaction 9 Though he does not iden-tify his understanding of the term apocalyptic, Hadfield underscores the presence of angels, final judgment, rewards for the righteous, and the end of the world in Matthean redaction in a manner that resonates with docu-ments such as 1 Enoch, Testament of Joseph, and some Iranian sacred books (of which I am not familiar) to show how the editor of the first Gospel, by his additions and modifications of his sources, emphasized apocalyptic teaching 10 More explicit is the work of Leopold Sabourin, who contends that at the heart of apocalyptic thought in general, and apocalypses in particular, lies the interpretation of history in which God reveals what course history will follow 11 Such a revelation is made through images and symbols, which is appropriate for visions and suits the supernatural and mysterious character of the message to be transmitted 12 This perspective is then taken to Matthew, where Sabourin trolls through a list of verses from that Gospel, offering comments to demonstrate the apocalyptic in-terest of Matthew 13

Don Hagners important article addresses Apocalyptic Motifs in the Gospel of Matthew To define his terminology, Hagner starts with Paul Hanson, who looks to the social contexts in which apocalyptic movements emerge, specifically in terms of alienation and disintegration of traditional beliefs, to which an apocalyptic motif responds Hagner then draws some conclusions about the social setting of the gospel, but that is not his focus (as it will be for Sim) Instead, for Hagner, Matthew couches his outlook in an apocalyptic eschatology, a viewpoint, really, not only about end things, but also of a radical transformation of the present order by su-pernatural agency in the future 14 Christopher Rowland 15 approaches the narrative of Matthew in light of his important book, The Open Heav-en 16 Rowlands work is important for at least two reasons: first, he shows that apocalypses themselves are not solely concerned with the end of the world, 17 an important corrective that we will revisit soon Second, Row-land shows that the features that are commonly found in apocalypses are also present in other genres This is not new, of course, but Rowlands articulation of how this works seems quite unique and, in my estimation,

9 Hadfield, Matthew the Apocalyptic Editor, 12832 10 Ibid , 132 11 Sabourin, Apocalyptic Traits, 19 12 Ibid 13 Ibid , 32 14 Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs, 56 15 Rowland, Apocalyptic, the Poor, and the Gospel of Matthew, 50418 16 The full title is The Open Heaven: A Study of Apocalyptic in Judaism and Early Christianity

(New York: Crossroad, 1982) The thrust of the essay is to overturn the growing consensus that apocalyptic was not foundational to Christian origins as proposed by A Schweitzer

17 Rowland, Apocalyptic, the Poor, and the Gospel of Matthew, 504


helpful From this latter point, one can see that the task of an apocalypse can be accomplished through other genres Specifically, I suggest, the task of an apocalypse to reveal truths about God and the universe can also be accomplished where particular features of apocalypses are present in other genres These are important observations to which we will return shortly

The most comprehensive treatment of apocalyptic with respect to Mat-thew is in the work of David C Sim In his 1996 monograph, Sim is careful to attend to apocalyptic eschatology in the First Gospel as a hermeneuti-cal tool for exploring Christian origins, specifically the so-called Matthean community This is a common practice among scholars working in apoc-alyptic literature That is, since the work of Hanson (and likely earlier), scholars have attempted to profile the sociological conditions in place that gave rise to apocalyptic literature Sim takes the apocalyptic eschatology of Matthews Gospel as a means to sketching a similar profile for the origins of Matthews Gospel His results are rather bleak: He posits that Matthews community stood in opposition to pharisaic-led formative Judaism Rela-tions were marked by bitterness and hostility and Matthews church ex-perienced some persecution from other Jews in the community Matthews community was also a victim of post-war persecution of Jews by Gentiles Subsequently, Matthew advocated a policy of avoiding the Gentile world as much as possible Matthews community also separated itself from the law-free aspects of the church, which it viewed as little better than the Pharisees and no closer to God than the Gentiles

This brief survey illustrates the diversity with which scholars engage apocalypticism in Matthews Gospel and the need for careful analysis

Analysis of Nomenclature: Origins of Apocalyptic and the Origins of Matthew?

What I find refreshing in Hagner are at least two things: first, he sets to define his terminology based on established, working definitions within scholarship Second, he is careful to note that even when using loaded terms such as apocalyptic eschatology, one need not think exclusively in terms of future events But I think we need to part company with Hagner and Sim when they take the next step toward reconstructing a sociological setting for Matthews community 18 Sim, building on the work of others, contends that, because apocalypticism arose from crises, and this apoca-lyptic eschatology is present in Matthew, Matthew must reflect a commu-nity that arose from a crisis Indeed, Sim provides an extensive portrait of sociological features of Matthews community 19 The problems here are

18 Sim is noted for his sociohistorical studies of the first Gospel, positing the Gospel of Matthew within, or more properly, against, other formative early Christian documents See D C Sim and B Repschinski, eds , Matthew and His Christian Contemporaries (LNTS 333; London: T &T Clark, 2008)

19 Sim, Apocalyptic Eschatology, 179242 See further the review by J Nolland in JTS 49 (1998) 22529


numerous, but let me mention just two: first, it is not at all apparent that, because Matthew has apocalyptic traits, we must analyze its origins on a sociological level the same way we would an apocalypse That it bears traits similar to those of apocalypses by no means requires that we trace its origins identically to how many have traced the origins of an apocalypse To put it differently, because Hanson has argued that apocalypses arise from settings of crises and community formations, 20 must we conclude that apocalyptic traits found in the narrative of Matthews Gospel suggest the origins of Matthews community? I am less convinced that Hansons sociological profile of apocalyptic works from antiquity is as prescriptive as it is descriptive Can we make socioreligious conclusions about readership based on apocalyptic features in a narrative? This seems to step unques-tioningly into speculation 21

The second problem I see with this approach is that it seems to pre-sume the Formgeschicthliche approach of determining a Sitz im Leben be-hind respective Gospel pericopes I raise this issue because using Hansons method of speculating on the origins of a community behind an apocalypse to apply to the Gospel of Matthew seems to presume the so-called com-munity hypothesis This view, a long-standing consensus among a wide range of scholars, assumes that each of the Gospels was written for a spe-cific church or group of churches Of course, the seminal rebuttal is that of Richard Bauckham, whose 1998 edited volume The Gospel for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences 22 provides compelling evidence from six scholars that the Gospels were intended for general circulation around the early Christian churches and so envisaged a very general Christian audi-ence Nevertheless, Formgeschichtliche assumptions still permeate Gospels scholarship, often in an unquestioning manner 23 Using a theory of the origin of an apocalypse to apply to a Gospel is problematic enough; using

20 D Hellholm has described the function of an apocalypse as intended for a group in crisis with the purpose of exhortation and/or consolation by means of divine authority D Hellholm, The Problem of Apocalypse Genre and the Apocalypse of John, in Early Chris-tian Apocalypticism: Genre and Social Setting (ed A Yarbro Collins; Semeia 36; Decatur, GA: Scholars Press, 1986) 27; cited in John J Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (2nd ed ; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 41 More recently, some have questioned whether the group(s) behind apocalypses need always be in crisis

21 Similarly, see Richard Bauckham, The Rise of Apocalyptic, The Jewish World Around the New Testament: Collected Essays (WUNT 233; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008) 41 Bauckham estimates the sociological component is speculative at best and probably the weakest part of his thesis

22 The Gospel for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) Further work is being done by Edward W Klink III, ed , The Audience of the Gospels: The Origin and Function of the Gospels in Early Christianity (LNTS 353; London: T &T Clark, 2010)

23 I have in mind A Yarbro Collins commentary (Mark [Herm; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007]) which, however, is anything but unthinking in its use of form criticism The articles by A -J Levine and R S Ascough in David E Aunes The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001) are good examples of how form critical assumptions are still being used for sociological reconstructions of the so-called Matthean community


it to sketch a sociological profile of the so-called Matthean community presumes without question that such a community existed

Eschatological and Apocalyptic

A common occurrence in the discussion of apocalyptic in Matthew pertains to the confusion of overlapping but distinct terms By apocalyptic, many scholars seem to mean either eschatological or symbolic (nonliteral), 24 or both As was suggested above, scholars such as Sabourin and Sim move quickly from apocalyptic to discussing the end of the world in terms of Matthews apocalyptic outlook, when in fact this is more properly an eschat-ological feature that is sometimes couched in apocalyptic symbols Hagner requires that apocalyptic involves the near future of end-time blessings and judgment 25 This is unnecessarily restricting and problematic in the sense that it conflates two overlapping and related-but-distinct concepts: apocalyptic and eschatology The point is taken up at greater length by Sim, who similarly begins by defining apocalyptic in conventional terms but then moves to apocalyptic eschatology For this, he looks to Collinss definition, which he says is an end-time scheme which looks to retribu-tion or judgment beyond the realm of history 26 Yet it is not clear that this is what Collins intends Instead, Collins wisely discusses apocalyptic eschatology as an eschatology that is found within apocalypses 27 For him, a presumption that apocalyptic must be equated with the end of history is based only on a narrow selection of ancient apocalypses Furthermore, some of the elements that are typically attributed to apocalyptic escha-tology, such as the judgment of the dead or even a scenario of the end of history, are not at all particular to apocalypses 28 Finally, Collins posits that, while there are many common features found in apocalypses, it is difficult to define a distinctive apocalyptic eschatology 29

The difficult task of distinguishing between apocalyptic and eschatol-ogy is taken up by Christopher Rowland He is among a handful of scholars (along with J Carmignac and H Stegemann) 30 who want to remove escha-tology from definition of an apocalypse Collins is right that this removal would cover a wider corpus of literature, which would of course include all apocalypses but also some other texts, such as Matthew This point is important, for Rowlands work observes that features of apocalyptic are found not only in an apocalypse proper but also in features employed in

24 See W F Albright and C S Mann, Matthew: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (ABC 26; New York: Doubleday, 1971) 351; R Brown, The Death of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels (2 vols ; New York: Doubleday, 1994) 2 1144

25 Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs, 57 26 Sim, Apocalyptic Eschatology, 28 27 Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 11 28 Ibid , 12 29 Ibid , citing Rowland, Open Heaven, 2937, 71 30 See Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 10 n 25


other genres This, I think, is precisely what we find in Matthew Yet how does one discern the features of apocalyptic in genres that are not them-selves apocalypses? Where does one take the discussion of apocalyptic from apocalypses themselves to other genres? The point of entry, it seems, is the most obvious feature involved, which is the symbolism that is so charac-teristic of apocalyptic

Proposing a New Method: Apocalyptic and Its Use of Symbols

What becomes apparent to me as Sabourin strings along his texts with a paragraph or two of comment on each is that the thought world or ele-ments commonly attributed to apocalyptic literature permeate the first Gospel and are woven into both narrative and discourse materials of a variety of literary forms: pronouncement stories, miracle stories, words of discipleship, controversy sayings, and so on Similarly, Rowlands work shows that features of apocalypses may be present in a narrative such as Matthew and that these features serve a similar function in narratives to their apocalyptic counterparts Specifically, they reveal truths about God and the universe In such instances, Rowland claims, The language that Jewish tradition uses to speak of Gods mysteries in the apocalypses enables the reader to understand the meaning of history more profoundly than would be possible from a straightforward narrative 31 In other words, apocalyptic provides some explanation or commentary on narrative events where a simple narrative description does not suffice Surely, we see this in narratives, where a Gospel author such as Matthew propels readers from a narrative scene by using apocalyptic symbols to grant readers an other-worldly perspective on something in his narrative I will quote Rowland again at length:

in Matthews gospel we have a narrative in which another dimension to ordinary life is revealed, a strategy typical of the apocalyptic tradition It gives us another perspective, a divine dimension of which apocalyptic enables us to catch a glimpse It is impossible to under-stand human existence or the hidden nature of individuals unless one is also aware of another, hidden story The apocalyptic dimension to ordinary life is especially pronounced in Matthew 32

In this manner, Rowland seems to suggest Matthew adopts the role of an apocalypticist Yet the challenge here is discerning by what means the evangelist has tipped his apocalyptic hand and in what manner it is evident that he has done so Considerable work has been done in scholarly discus-sion of apocalypses in general that indicate the use of symbols is a defining element But here also we must take care regarding our use of terminology,

31 Rowland, Open Heaven, 505 32 Ibid , 517


for language such as Rowlands apocalyptic tradition and apocalyptic dimension require distinction from other, related terms

When using language of apocalyptic, we must be careful to distinguish between apocalypse as a genre, a social movement, and an eschatological outlook 33 That is, some distinction must be made between three related terms: apocalypses, apocalyptic, and apocalypticism 34 Apocalypticism is a world view, ideology, or theology merging the eschatological aims of par-ticular groups into a cosmic and political arena 35 Apocalyptic can either be the literary genre in particular or the world view often espoused in this literature in general Apocalypse proper is the literary genre dating from ca 200 b c to a d 200 36 John J Collins has defined the term in his seminal work as follows:

Apocalypse is a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherwordly be-ing to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial, insofar as it involves another, supernatural world 37

With this important definition in mind, the function of apocalypse, as ar-ticulated by A Y Collins, D Hellholm, and David Aune, is to interpret present, earthly circumstances in light of the supernatural world and of the future, and to influence the understanding and behavior of the audience by means of divine authority 38 These important statements clarify for us that any discussion of apocalyptic in general is saturated with a wide variety of symbolic language Such language may use symbols as metaphors for the purpose of referring to concrete objects or events as well as abstract ideas This seems to be what David Aune has in view for what he terms apocalyptic imagery: the language and conceptions of apocalyptic escha-tology found in bits and pieces in a variety of ancient literary settings 39 Apocalyptic imagery is the means by which that world view is conveyed 40 That is, when apocalyptic is conveyed in literary form, it characteristically employs images and symbols, often expressed in specific, nonliteral lan-

33 For a more recent comprehensive treatment of Apocalyptic in scholarship, see Lo-renzo DiTommaso, Apocalypses and Apocalypticism in Antiquity (Part I), CBR 5 (2007) 23586; and idem, Apocalypses and Apocalyptic in Antiquity (Part II), CBR 5 (2007) 367432 See most recently D M Gurtner, Second Baruch: A Critical Edition of the Syriac Text (ed J H Charlesworth; JCTC 5; London: T &T Clark, 2009) 1820

34 P Hanson, Dawn of Apocalyptic (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975) xi; Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 2

35 K Koch, The Rediscovery of Apocalyptic (trans M Kohl; Naperville, IL: Aflenson, 1972) 2833

36 Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 23 37 John J Collins, Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre, Sem 14 (1979) 9 38 A Y Collins, Introduction: Early Christian Apocalyptism, Sem 36 (1986) 7 39 David E Aune, The New Testament in Its Literary Environment (Philadelphia: Westmin-

ster, 1987) 227 40 David E Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World

(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983) 107


guage 41 typically, but not always, found in literature categorized within the apocalyptic genre proper Apocalyptic imagery is employed to con-vey a revelation of a supernatural world and the activity of supernatu-ral beings 42 It is used to provide a cosmic perspective on a particular situation 43 The imagery is drawn from a set of recognizable symbols that were often understood to represent things beyond themselves Identifying the referentiality of those symbols is crucial to understanding the meaning of a text that employs them

What if one of these recognizable symbols appears not only in an apoc-alypse proper but also in an ancient literary work of a different genre alto-gether, such as a Gospel? That is, if a symbol that appears in apocalypses appears also in a Gospel, the manner in which it is interpreted within an apocalypse could be instructive for its interpretation in a Gospel So, I suggest, we are not discussing the interpretation of apocalyptic eschatol-ogy in Matthew, for this is a collapse of categories that, while frequently appearing hand-in-hand, are neither synonymous nor necessarily concur-rent Nor are we employing terms such as apocalyptic motifs (Hagner) or apocalyptic traits (Sabourin), because traits or motifs lack the speci-ficity required for a methodologically sound and controlled interpretation of its features Instead, I think we can speak with more clarity about the interpretation of apocalyptic symbols in Matthew For it is precisely the symbolic nature of Hagners motifs and Sabourins traits that leads them and others to describe certain elements as apocalyptic in the first place Of course, apocalyptic literature is not limited to symbolism There are other features, such as motifs and literary forms 44 But because the use of symbolism is a defining element or feature of apocalyptic literature in general, whether a formal apocalypse proper in the genre sense or an apocalyptic feature found within another genre, symbolism seems to be an important point of entry for discussion of apocalyptic in the Gospel of Matthew

If apocalyptic symbolism is the point at which to interpret apocalyptic features in Matthew, we must first discern how one identifies and inter-prets these symbols For this we can turn to extensive work done by inter-preters of Revelation, an apocalypse proper, for guidance Interpreters of that book of course must come to terms with some methodological rubric for interpreting its vast symbolism At the same time, however, we must also be aware of the likelihood that though an apocalypse and a Gospel

41 Collins (Apocalyptic Imagination, 282) insists that the language of the apocalypses is not descriptive, referential, newspaper language, but the expressive language of poetry, which uses symbols and imagery to articulate a sense or feeling about the world Their abiding value does not lie in the pseudoinformation they provide about cosmology or future history, but in their affirmation of a transcendent world

42 Ibid , 6 Sacchis approach starts with the Book of Watchers and the problem of evil, but Collins doubts it can be traced to a single motif or theme (Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 11) Cf Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs, 57

43 Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 261, 28283 44 Bauckham, Rise of Apocalyptic, 4748


may employ similar or even identical symbols, the distinction in genre may well require a distinction in interpretations as warranted by their respec-tive genres So we will need to consider what features there are about the narrative of a Gospel that may require us to interpret its use of apocalyptic symbols in a manner distinct from its use in an apocalypse

In discussing the symbolic nature of Revelation and the interpreta-tion of symbols, G K Beale looks to Rev 1:1 where John is having a vision to make known () Gods purposes in the book Beale reads this expression as an indication of a pictorial disclosure, causing him to render Johns as communicate by symbols 45 How one interprets such symbols is crucial When the symbols are not themselves identified by the author (as in Rev 1:20), one must look elsewhere for interpretation Here, Beale looks primarily to two sources: first a known commonplace associa-tion of a picture 46 By this, Beale presumes a shared corpus of knowledge by the author and recipients from a variety of biblical and nonbiblical lit-erature, primarily the OT and Judaism 47 Beales commentary focuses on tracing the exegetical tradition in the OT and Judaism of OT symbolic passages that John alludes to; thus, he hopes to see the commonplace as-sociations of the OT symbols in their ongoing interpretive developments The second source Beale looks to when interpreting symbolism in the apocalypse is the literal subject itself 48 Though there are varying de-grees of correspondence in such cases, there is value in examining the nature of the comparison If one were to say God is a rock, there may be a number of characteristics of a rock to choose fromhard, common, blunt, and so on, but context will aid in discerning the point(s) of com-parison, which in Revelation can be many At the same time, however, we must recognize at the outset that symbolic need not mean nonliteral This point is made explicitly in Grant Osbornes interpretation of apocalyptic symbols in Revelation 49 If this is the case in an apocalypse, one must be all the more sensitive to this in a narrative We recognize this with highly symbolic biblical records such as the exodus and the resurrection of Je-sus Both are highly, even powerfully, symbolic But both are perceived by biblical authors as literally and historically real, true, and factual in space and time This is an important caution when interpreting highly symbolic apocalyptic symbols in a genre outside an apocalypse For as we enter the bios of Matthew, we are presented with items in a manner that suggests they contain literal, historical aspects common to its narrative style while at the same time containing highly charged apocalyptic symbols that re-quire some interpretation

There are a wide variety of texts in Matthew that use apocalyptic sym-bols to which we can turn There is the transfiguration, some of the parousia

45 G K Beale, The Book of Revelation (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 52 46 Ibid , 56 47 Beale also includes the LXX, pagan literature, and numismatic, inscriptional sources 48 Ibid 49 Grant R Osborne, Revelation (BECNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) 1516


parables, 50 and Matthews Olivet Discourse (chs 2425) 51 One could also consider the four Matthean uses of the verb (10:26; 11:25, 27; 16:17) In Matt 10:26 Jesus declares that there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed () Elsewhere he praises the Father because he has hidden things from the wise and learned and revealed () them to children (11:25) Astonishingly, Jesus asserts that no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (, 11:27) Then, after Peter identifies Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16), Jesus replies that Peter arrived at that conclusion not from personal experience with Jesus, witnessing his miracles, or simply keen perception, but from a revelation () from Jesus heavenly Father (Matt 16:17) Each of these would help con-tribute to a composite picture of apocalyptic symbolism in Matthew, but I want to focus on one specific text: the tearing of the veil in Matt 27:51 Here I do not intend to introduce a novel interpretation of this enigmatic passage 52 Instead, I hope to demonstrate how the methodological controls suggested above guide us in identifying and interpreting an apocalyptic symbol within a narrative account in Matthews Gospel

Apocalyptic Symbolism and Matthew 27:51

When we come to the tearing of the veil in Matthew, scholarly confusion abounds Most recognize that the pericope draws on apocalyptic images from the OT But when most scholars use the term apocalyptic with respect to the veil and its context, few define what they mean by that term and how the veil of the temple fits into that category Even K L Waters, in a recent article titled Matthew 27:5253 as Apocalyptic Apostrophe, never defines what he means by apocalyptic 53 Matthews special material (27:51b53) is sometimes called apocalyptic material taken from an apocalyptic tradition, 54 while the resurrection of holy ones is an apocalyptic sign 55 Hagner refers to the symbolic-apocalyptic character of the language 56 M de Jonge uses apocalypticizing description of events 57 R Brown dis-cusses apocalyptic trappings and symbolic, poetic, and popular apoca-lyptic events 58 These diverse appropriations of terminology can be aided

50 See Richard Bauckhams, Synoptic Parousia Parables and the Apocalypse, in The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T &T Clark, 1993) 92117

51 Especially 24:59, which bears some striking resemblances to Rev 6:214 52 This is offered in my Torn Veil 53 K L Waters, Matthew 27:5253 as Apocalyptic Apostrophe: Temporal-Spatial Col-

lapse in the Gospel of Matthew, JBL 122 (2003) 489515 His temporal-spatial collapse is characteristic of most apocalyptic (p 489)

54 D Senior, The Death of Jesus and the Birth of the New World: Matthews Theology of History in the Passion Narrative, CurTM 19 (1992) 31229

55 Senior, Death of Jesus, 323 56 D A Hagner, Matthew (WBC; 2 vols ; Dallas: Word, 1993, 1995) 2:851 57 M de Jonge, Matthew 27:51 in Early Christian Exegesis, HTR 79 (1986) 71 58 Brown, Death of the Messiah, 2:1126; U Luz Das Evangelium nach Matthus (EKK;

4vols; Zrich: Benziger Verlag, 19852002) 4:340: traditioneller apokalyptischer Hoffnungen,


by the use of a methodology that employs the interpretation of apocalyptic symbols as a foundation As we have seen, Beale has helpfully demon-strated that authors of apocalypses employ symbols from a stock of images primarily found in the OT and also Second Temple Judaism, as well as from the nature of the symbols themselves For when interpreting apoca-lyptic symbols, a contextual interpretation requires discernment of what the symbol employed refers to This is clear enough in apocalypses, but James D G Dunn has made the identical point with respect to interpreting apocalyptic language in Matthew 59 It would seem, then, that discerning the referent of the tearing of the veil would provide a key to interpreting the pericope in which it is found

The tearing of the veil provides a particular problem because neither Matthew nor his synoptic counterparts offer an explicit interpretation, and there is no clear precedent in Judaism 60 To what the tearing of the veil refers is unclear, and conjecture has been dominant 61 There is no state-ment that gives us any indication of any symbolic meaning of the tearing of the veil But if interpreting an apocalyptic symbol requires identification of its referent, it could be fruitful to search the OT and Second Temple Jewish texts to identify a symbolic referent for the veil itself There are a few places where the veil is mentioned in Second Temple Judaism and numerous mentions of it in the OT But in terms of its symbolism, it is primarily Jewish sources of the Second Temple period that help us But even here speculation is found For example, some scholars insist that the veil is taken to embody the whole religious system of the Temple 62 or represents the locus of Gods presence at the heart of Israels cultic life 63 However, there are no texts from the OT or Judaism that make this con-nection For in that period, the symbolic referent for the veil was only one thing, the heavenly firmament of Gen 1:6 64 I will rehearse the evidence for that here, in brief

Throughout the vast literature in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism, authors provide the clear information regarding the symbolic ref-erent of the temple veil: Josephus and the Gospel of Mark Perhaps because

apokalyptische Weltendwende, and apokalyptisch 59 He insists that with apocalyptic language, the question of referentiality cannot be ig-

nored (The Significance of Matthews Eschatology for Biblical Theology, SBLSP 35 [1996] 161 60 Except, perhaps, in Liv.Pro. 12 61 For a survey of various interpretations, see D M Gurtner, The Rending of the Veil:

A Look Back and a Way Forward, Them 29/3 (2004) 414 It is possible that the torn veil is symbolic of the beginning destruction of the old cosmos, since the accompanying imagery (Matt 27:5153) describes things that were to happen at the end of the old cosmos (of which the temple itself was symbolic) This interpretation is touched on most closely by G K Beale, The Temple and the Churchs Mission (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004) 18990

62 S Motyer, The Rending of the Veil: A Markan Pentecost? NTS 33 (1987) 155 63 Donald Senior, The Death of Gods Son and the Beginning of the New Age, in The

Language of the Cross (ed A Lacomara; Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1977) 3437 64 For a thorough treatment, see ch 4 of my Torn Veil, The Veil in Second Temple and

Rabbinic Judaism, 7296


of his priestly heritage, Josephus is very descriptive of the veil According to him, it was

of Babylonian tapestry ( ), with embroidery of blue and fine linen, of scarlet also and purple, wrought with marvelous skill Nor was this mixture of materials without its mystic meaning: it typified the universe For the scarlet seemed emblematic of fire, the fine linen of the earth, the blue of the air, and the purple of the sea; the comparison in two cases being suggested by their colour, and in that of the fine linen and purple by their origin, as the one is produced by the earth and the other by the sea On this tapestry was portrayed a panorama of the heavens, the signs of the Zodiac excepted (J.W. 5 5 4 212214 LCL)

Josephus elaborate description is rich in symbolism 65 The Babylonian tapestry and the scarlet purple and skill clearly depict royalty 66 Pelletier claims that for Josephus the embroidery of the curtain represented the stars of the firmament 67 Hofius says that for Josephus the veil symbol-izes the separation between heaven and earth 68 The colors depicted the elements of the universe, and describing it as portraying the panorama of the heavens ( ) suggests the firmament imagery as-sociated with the veil summarized from rabbinic texts above Precisely what does he mean by panorama and how does it relate to the heaven? generally refers to a sight or spectacle 69 In Josephus, the term refers to a design, plan, or something visually depicting something else 70 Moreover, Josephus tells his readers what that something else is, is a relatively rare adjectival form of and can, itself, mean a panorama of the heavens (Xenophon, Mem. 1 1 11) but mostly means heavenly or dwelling in heaven as a place for the gods 71 What Josephus tells us, then, is that there was something portrayed

65 Though this is not an apocalyptic context, as in other Jewish writings similarly depict-ing the veil, it is no longer valid to discredit Josephus connection with Jewish apocalypticism Cf P Bilde, Josephus and Jewish Apocalypticism, in Understanding Josephus: Seven Perspectives (ed S Mason; JSPSup 32; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998) 3561

66 Such Babylonian tapestry likewise served as the coverlet for Cyrus golden sarcopha-gus when it was visited by Alexander the Great (Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 6 29 5) who founded the Persian Empire, and was King of Asia (6 29 8; cf 3 21 1; 4 18 3)

67 A Pelletier, La tradition synoptique du Voile dchir la lumire des ralits ar-chologiques, RSR 46 (1958) 171 Presumably, the of Gen 1:6

68 O Hofius, Der Vorhang vor dem Thron Gottes: Eine exegetisch-religionsgeschichtliche Un-tersuchung zu Hebrer 6,19f. und 10,19f. (WUNT 14; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1972) 23 Pelletier suggests that for both Philo and Josephus the veil served to obscure from public view the mystery of the abode of God to reserve it for the privileged priesthood Pelletier, La tradition synoptique, 172

69 LSJ 797 70 Josephus, Ant. 2 9 5 226; 8 5 2 138; 12 2 12 99; 16 5 1 140; 19 1 12 81; 19 1 13 89;

J.W. 5 5 2 191 71 Euripdes, Ion 715; Phoenissae 1729; Plato, Phaedr. 247a; Inscriptiones Graecae 12(2) 58b4;

Aeschylus, Prometheus vunctus 165; Agamemnon 90; LSJ 1272 It is quite rare in the LXX and NT: 1 Esd 6:14; 2 Macc 7:34; 9:10; 3 Macc 6:18; 4 Macc 4:11; 9:15; 11:3; Dan () 4:26; Matt 5:48;


on the veil, presumably woven (tapestry), that looked like heaven That is, whatever else Josephus is saying, he asserts that the veil itself, in some sense, looked like heaven This need not say that the veil is in some sense equated with the heavens, as we have seen in the rabbinic literature, 72 but it does draw our attention to an association being made between heaven and the veil that is within the first-century period

In addition to Josephus, we find a similar association between the veil and the heavens in a second source, which is widely held to be Matthews primary source, the Gospel of Mark Mark makes a recognized association between the heavenly firmament torn at Jesus baptism (, Mark 1:10) and the splitting of the veil at the baptism of Jesus death (, 15:38) 73 Scholars have recognized a cogently structured literary style employed by the evangelist with respect to the rending of the heavens (1:10) and the rending of the veil (15:38) S Motyer, among other scholars, argues that the tearing of the veil in Mark picks up and forms an inclusio with the account of Jesus baptism in 1 911 74 Others have suggested that Mark intended to bracket his Gospel with a tearing of the veil/splitting of the heavens inclusio 75 Elsewhere I have argued that Marks rending of the veil is an apocalyptic assertion whereby Gods declaration of Jesus as his son ( , 1:11) is finally recognized by someone other than the evil spirits (3:11) as the Son of God (by the centurion, , 15:39) 76 Mark is using the apocalyptic symbol of the veil as the symbolic and literary equivalent of the sky In that sense, the tearing of the veil is the apocalyptic, symbolic equivalent of the tearing of the sky, or tearing open of heaven, an apocalyp-

6:14, 26, 32; 15:13; 18:35; 23:9; Luke 2:13; Acts 26:19 I owe credit for help on these observations to J T Pennington

72 This same view is developed much more extensively in Rabbinic and Hebraist liter-ature, likening the veil to the heavenly firmaments from Gen 1:6 See Gurtner, Torn Veil, 8893 The fully developed notions of the symbolic quality of the veil of the temple are articulated quite late; it seems probable that widespread and firm association points to a notion early in the tradition Indeed, the association between tabernacle/temple curtains and the heavenly firma-ment is at least as early as Josephus, and fits within a wider temple cosmology that dates two centuries before him Cf J E Wright, The Early History of Heaven (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) 11783; Beale, The Temple and the Churchs Mission, 2960

73 For a brief discussion of the chiasmus and inclusio in Marks structure and the relation of these texts to it, see W R Telford, Mark (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997) 1023

74 Motyer, Markan Pentecost? 155 His further assertion that it therefore represents a Markan Pentecost, a proleptic bestowal of the Spirit analogous to the proleptic destruction of the temple has gained almost no support He concludes this from the suggestion of C K Barretts the lost ending of mark actually contained an account of Pentecost and because the promise of Spirit baptism in Mark is not fulfilled in the extant text Cf C K Barrett, The Holy Spirit and the Gospel Tradition (London: SPCK, 1947) 125; Pelletier, La tradition synoptique, 17980 Yet his insistence that the tearing of the veil reveals destruction and judgment ob-scures his treatment of the special material (in Matthew) and the centurions profession (Matthew and Mark)

75 D Ulansey, The Heavenly Veil Torn: Marks Cosmic Inclusio, JBL 110 (1991) 124 76 D M Gurtner, The Rending of the Veil and Markan Christology: Unveiling the

(Mark 15:3839), BibInt 15 (2007) 292306 See, similarly, P Lamarche, Le mort du Christ et le voile du temple selon Marc, NRth 106 (1974) 588


tic assertion, and what follows is the content of what it reveals In Marks case, it is that Jesus is Son of God, the first instance in his Gospel that occurs on the lips of a person In Mark, after the splitting of the heavens at Jesus baptism, we find a voice declaring Jesus divine Sonship (1:1011) At the baptism of Jesus death (Mark 15:3839) 77 the veil (of the heav-enly firmament) was split (, 15:38), with another voice declaring his divine Sonship (that of the centurion) In this sense, the centurion receives a supernatural disclosure of the true identity of the crucified Jesus precisely where his identity as Son of God has reached its climax, at the cross

If both Marks connection between the veil and the heavens and Jo-sephus identification of the veil with the sky are legitimate recognitions of the veil as a symbol referring to the heavenly firmament, it not only establishes a very early recognition of the connection between the heavenly firmament and the veil of the temple, but locates that association within Marks Gospel, which scholars widely agree was a primary source for the composition of Matthew 78 This suggests, then, that Matthew, like Mark, employs the apocalyptic symbol of the veil as the heavenly firmament Its rending then, like the rending of the heavens, suggest the introduction of an apocalyptic vision Matthew seems to have adopted the Markan reve-latory function of the tearing of the veil while developing the content of what it reveals by including his special material and recording not a single centurion, as in Mark, but a plurality of soldiers The following material is developed extensively elsewhere 79 and only the points that demonstrate the interpretation of the tearing of the veil as an apocalyptic symbol are rehearsed here

What Is Revealed

If the torn veil is an apocalyptic symbol for the opening of heaven, it brings us to a familiar depiction of an apocalyptic vision When the opening of heaven occurs, it often introduces an apocalyptic vision and is accompa-nied by visionary material and a clear indication that what is described is seen 80 The material following the opening of heaven often constitutes the content of the vision, what is revealed by that supernatural disclo-sure 81 This is seen in numerous examples, starting with Ezek 1:1, where the prophet reports, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God

77 However, the baptism of Christs death is a feature of Mark (10:3839) and Luke (12:50) but absent from Matthew (cf Matt 20:2223), though it is added by C W 33 (892) 1006 1342 (1506) M f h q syp, h bopt

78 Though this is not an apocalyptic context, as in other Jewish writings similarly depict-ing the veil, it is no longer valid to discredit Josephus connection with Jewish apocalypticism Cf P Bilde, Josephus and Jewish Apocalypticism, 3561

79 The Torn Veil, especially pp 15282 80 See R J Korner, And I saw : An Apocalyptic Literary Convention for Structural

Identification in the Apocalypse, NovT 42 (2000) 16083 81 Of course, sometimes the heavens are opened to pour forth rain (Gen 7:11; Deut 28:12;

2 Kgs 7:2, 19; Isa 24:18; cf Ps 78:23; Isa 45:8; Mal 3:10)


(rsv) Similar visions occur in both apocalyptic texts (Rev 4:1; 19:11; 2 Bar. 22:1; Hermas, Vis. 1 4 1; cf Apoc. Abr. 19 4; 1 En. 14:15) and narratives (Acts 10 11; T. Levi 2 6), most explicitly in Matt 3:1617, where the heavens are themselves opened at Jesus baptism ( , 3:16) 82 Here in the veil pericope, as in other passages where an apocalyptic sym-bol is used to introduce a vision, what follows serves as the content of the revelationwhat is revealed to the centurion and those with him (27:54) That is, Matthews so-called special material (27:51b53) constitutes an apocalyptic vision, introduced by the apocalyptic symbol of the opening of the heaven conveyed with the tearing of the veil 83 In this instance, Jesus death has itself occasioned a revelatory assertion indicating its own sig-nificance The special material, employing further apocalyptic images such as the splitting of stones, raising of holy ones, and so on convey that Jesus death has brought about the onset of the turning of an eschatological age 84 The imagery here is drawn largely from Ezek 37, in which exiles will return and God will dwell among his people But this is not all that is revealed, for another item follows the torn veil in both Matthew and Mark: that Jesus is son of God (Matt 27:54; Mark 15:39) I will now unpack each, briefly

What Is Revealed: Special Material

The first item that he reports is an earthquake (27:51b; ) Earthquakes are frequently present in theophanic scenes and are expected to occur at the end of time, particularly in apocalyptic literature 85 It has been widely recognized that Matthew draws, at least in part, 86 from Ezek37, where an earthquake (; Ezek 37:7 LXX) precedes the open-ing of graves and the resurrection of people who return to the land of Israel (Ezek 37:1213) J I H McDonald asserts that the earthquake is Matthews code for an apocalyptic act of God 87

82 See most recently David Mathewson, The Apocalyptic Vision of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew: Reading Matthew 3:164:11 Intertextually, TynBul 62 1 (2011) 89108

83 It is often suggested that the rending of the veil connotes the destruction of the temple While this view is often posited it does not seem to be sufficiently demonstrated exe-getically, for I have yet to find the veil symbolizing the temple itself in any extant sources See D M Gurtner, Matthews Temple and the Parting of the Ways in Built upon the Rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew (ed John Nolland and Daniel M Gurtner; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008) 12853

84 See Dale C Allison Jr , The End of the Ages Has Come: An Early Interpretation of the Pas-sion and Resurrection of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985) esp pp 4050

85 Earthquakes in theophanic scenes: R Bauckham, The Eschatological Earthquake in the Apocalypse of John, NovT 19 (1977) 224; near the end of time: Joel 2:10; 3:16; Isa 24:1823; 29:6; Mic 1:4; Nah 1:5 P Hinnebusch, St. Matthews Earthquake: Judgment and Discipleship in the Gospel of Matthew (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1980) 14350; in apocalyptic literature: Bauckham, Eschat-ological Earthquake, 22627

86 Also earthquakes were expected to accompany Gods filling of Zerubbabels temple with his glory (Hag 2:67) J T Carroll and J B Green, The Death of Jesus in Early Christianity (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995) 49; cf W Carter, Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996) 22325

87 J I H McDonald, The Resurrection: Narrative and Belief (London: SPCK, 1989) 91, cited in Wright, Resurrection, 634 n 5


In 27:51c, the rocks are split ( ) Splitting of the stones is also the result of a manifestation of Gods power (Nah 1:56; 1Kgs 19:11; Ps 114:78; Isa 48:21) and is used in some Second Temple texts with Ezek37 to indicate Gods victory over death in the final age 88 Dale Allison has persuasively argued that Zech 14:45 stands out as the most appropri-ate allusion 89 In that text, the Mount of Olives is split and the Lord comes together with all the holy ones 90 The significance of this background is that, in Zech 14, the allusions drawn by Matthew where the rocks are the Mount of Olives depict the turning of a new eschatological age 91

Matthew 27:52a recounts the opening of tombs ( ) Scholars have frequently noted the allusion in this verse to Ezek 37:1213 LXX ( ) 92 Significantly, Ezek 37:1213 offers the only opening of the tombs (as distinct from the simple raising of the dead) described in the OT 93 Furthermore, in the Ezekiel text the opening of the tombs is associated with knowing the Lord and his leadership of them into restoration from exile, which may be similar to the assertion that Matthews holy ones come out of their tombs after Jesus resurrection (27:53b)

The raised bodies of the saints (Matt 27:52b) raises questions too numer-ous to be discussed here 94 Most see here a reference to OT saints from Ezek 37:12: and I will bring you forth out of your tombs () 95 (surely with influence from texts such as Zech 14:45 and Dan 12:2 96) The

88 Senior, Death of Gods Son, 4243 89 Allison, End of the Ages, 4046 90 Carroll and Green, Death of Jesus, 49 91 Allison, End of the Ages, 46 92 W D Davies and D C Allison, The Gospel according to Saint Matthew (3 vols ; ICC;

Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997) 3:633; Cf Luz, Matthus, 4 36465 D Senior, The Passion Nar-rative according to Matthew: A Redactional Study (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1975) 320; E Schweizer, The Good News according to Matthew (trans D E Green; London: SPCK, 1976) 515, and Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs, 62

93 Brown, Death of the Messiah, 2:1123 94 The identity of these fallen asleep holy ones has been the subject of some discus-

sion Luz (Matthus, 4 365) insists that since Matthew refers to (many) rather than all of the holy ones, he cannot refer to the general resurrection Others ask whether this is a general or some other resurrection D Witherup (The Death of Jesus and the Raising of the Saints: Matthew 27:5154 in Context, SBLSP 26 [1987] 574) looks solely to how the event functions within the context of Matthew 27 and the Gospel of Matthew as a whole R H Gundry (Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church under Persecution [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994] 576) suggests is used to produce a parallel between the holy people and the holy city into which they enter If this is true, it may underscore the visionary nature of the pericope, as it would then connect the raised people and Jerusalem with the visionary holy city in Matt 4:111

95 Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:63435 Senior (Death of Gods Son, 45), referring to the general resurrection Brown (Death of the Messiah, 2:1125) suggests that is an epexegetical expression to , denoting that the many bodies are the fallen-asleep holy ones Thus, it does not refer to every holy one of all time

96 Zech 14:45: Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:633: saints in an eschatological context, citing LXX Isa 4:3; Dan 7:18, 22; Did 16:7; T. Levi 18:11; Liv.Pro. (Jer ) 15 Allison, End of the Ages, 4344 and J Gnilka, Das Matthusevangelium (2 vols ; Freiburg: Herder, 1988) 2:477; Dan 12:2: Gundry, Matthew, 57677


identity of these figures has been the subject of some discussion 97 Though Brown is perhaps right that Matthews concern does not seem to be with the precise identity of the raised, his assertion that Matthew is concerned with the awesome power of Gods action and that an inbreaking of Gods power signifying that the last times have begun is true but incomplete 98 For surely the raising of the saints in reference to the death of Jesus is not generally about Gods power but is specifically related to Gods activity displayed in Jesus death

Yet the timing is curious (27:53b, ) 99 and at times simply unclear Matthew seems to have no problem with the fact that at least part of what the centurion saw from Golgotha on Friday may have occurred in Jerusalem after Sunday 100 Some have seen a temporal and spatial collapse employed by the evangelist 101 that suggests that the evan-gelist has no difficulty in taking the reader from Golgotha, to the temple, to Jerusalem, perhaps to the Mount of Olives, and back to Golgotha However, Matthew does not explain all of what the centurion (and others, 27:54) saw, only mentioning earthquake ( ) and, ambiguously, what took place ( ) Matthew also is unclear as to whether they were raised Friday and seen by many on Sunday, or both raised and seen by many on Sunday 102 These ambiguities may illustrate that the evangelist seems more concerned to narrate the miraculous events occasioned by Jesus death, while retaining sensitivity to the tradition that Jesus must himself be raised

97 Some say they were simply the pious Israelites whose resurrection had for some time formed part of the popular eschatology (A H McNeile, The Gospel according to St. Matthew [London: MacMillan, 1915] 424; J P Heil, The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: A Narrative-Critical Reading of Matthew 2628 [Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991] 85; D Hill, Matthew 27:5153 in the Theology of the Evangelist, IBS 7 [1985] 76) Others suggest they are righteous Jews (the , righteous) of the time before Jesus, perhaps the patriarchs, prophets, or martyrs (See Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3:633; Hagner, Matthew, 2:84952)

98 Brown, Death of the Messiah, 2:1126 99 Davies and Allison (Matthew, 3:634 n 130) rightly indicate the reading after their

resurrection ( instead of ; so 30 220 Ethmss) is weakly attested and is probably a secondary modification intended to avoid the difficulties of the text as it stands But Hagner (Matthew, 2:850) adopts the plural reading as original McNeile (St. Matthew, 424, citing Ps 138[139] 2) averts the issue by claiming that is not used elsewhere of resurrection

100 Collins (Apocalyptic Imagination, 15) suggests that apocalyptic writings are far more tolerant of inconsistency and repetition than some, particularly R H Charles, have realized

101 Cf K L Waters, Matthew 27:5253 as Apocalyptic Apostrophe, 489515 102 The first option would take 27:52 as a complete event, the tombs are opened and the

holy ones are raised, yet they do not enter into the holy city and appear to many until after they come out of the tombs ( ), which occurs after Jesus resurrection ( ) This would suggest that they are raised to life at 27:52 (presumably on Friday), yet remain in their tombs until after Jesus resurrection (Sunday)

It seems more plausible that 27:52 only signifies that they were raised (), with-out mention of when, and 27:53 clarifies when (Sunday) they entered the city and were seen by many This takes the aorist participle () and the prepositional phrase ( ~) grammatically to modify the verb () Or, the prepositional phrase ( ~) could modify the participle (), which itself modifies the verb () Either way, in this reading the coming out of the tombs occurs first, then they enter into the city and are seen by many See J W Wenham, When Were the Saints Raised? JTS 32 (1981) 15052


first (1 Cor 15:20), than to providing sufficient data to piece together pre-cisely the sequence of events

What Is Revealed: Centurions Profession.

The Son of God is recognized as a distinctive term of Jesus obedi-ence in Matthew 103 Jesus is the obedient Son of God who fulfills the Scriptures and is faithful to Gods will unto death 104 The same expres-sion appears elsewhere in Matthew, particularly in Matthews account of Peters confession Here, the disciple acknowledges Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God (16:16), whereas Mark only has you are the Christ (8:29) 105 That Matthew has added the son of God to his source may help us with the centurions profession For Matthew reads something not found in either of the synoptic parallel accounts: , , (16:17) Whatever other intertextual allusions may be happening here, it seems apparent that, for Matthew, the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, is a product of divine revelation (cf also Matt 14:33) 106 This revelation also appears in 27:51a, where the veil of the heavenly firma-ment is opened and the true identity of Jesus as the Son of God and the life-giving, new-age-inaugurating death of Jesus is revealed And that his identity as Son of God is seen most vividly in his death 107 suggests that his role in bearing that title is most explicitly articulated by his death for sins (cf 26:28)

Conclusion

By way of conclusion, I will summarize the theoretical method that leads me to my exegetical findings First, we saw that many scholars have

103 D J Verseput, The Son of God Title in Matthews Gospel, NTS 33 (1987) 53258 R T France (Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1989] 297) sug-gests Verseput may not go far enough, and hints that the title points to the divinity of Jesus

104 Senior, The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1985) 164 Cf also W G Olmstead, Matthews Trilogy of Parables: The Nation, the Nations and the Reader in Matthew 21.2822.14 (SNTSMS 127; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) 102; G Bornkamm, End Expectation and Church in Matthew, in Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew (ed G Bornkamm, G Barth, and H J Held; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963) 3637

105 Luke has the Christ of God (9:2) and John reads you are the holy one of God (6:69; Wright, Resurrection, 621)

106 For a helpful discussion of the intertextual relationship between the identity of Jesus as son of God at Matt 27:54 and Matt 14:33, see Senior, Redactional Study, 32728 Cf France, Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher, 294 C Deutsch (Wisdom in Matthew: Transformation of a Symbol, NovT 32 [1990] 33) claims themes of concealment and revelation in Matthew are very similar to wisdom themes in that Gospel and are both eschatological and apocalyptic, connot-ing the disclosure of the new order, the Reign of Heaven; cf also Matt 10:26; G MacAskill, Restored-Creation Eschatology in Matthews Gospel and Early Judaism, (paper presented at the Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, University of Glasglow, 2 June 2004)

107 D A Carson, Matthew, in The Expositors Bible Commentary (ed David E Garland and Tremper Longman III; rev ed ; 13 vols ; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 9:652


addressed the subject of apocalyptic variously understood from a vari-ety of perspectives: eschatology, motifs, themes, and so on We found that what seems to be the most fruitful point of entry is to discuss the use of apocalyptic symbols Apocalyptic symbols constitute both a defining char-acteristic of apocalyptic thought and occur in a variety of ancient genres, not only apocalypses Once an apocalyptic symbol is identified, we can interpret it using methods similar to those employed for interpreting these symbols in a formal apocalypse This includes determining the referent of the symbol employed When applied to Matthews account of the tearing of the veil, we found that there is sufficient evidence for identifying the apocalyptic symbol of the veil of the temple with the sky That is, its refer-ent seems to be the heavens or the sky (from Gen 1:6) In this sort of reading of the apocalyptic symbols, the rending of the veil connotes the opening of the heaven, a familiar event accompanying an apocalyptic vision Here, the centurions view the dramatic, eschatological significance of the death of Jesus Returning to Rowland, the employment of an apocalyptic scene here enables Matthew to convey the meaning of history more profoundly than would be possible from a straightforward narrative 108 I suggest that Matthew has made use of an apocalyptic symbol in the rending of the temple veil, asserting in these vivid images that the death of Jesus has in-augurated the eschatological restoration from exile, completing his earlier anticipation that Jesus will save his people from their sins (1:21)

Regardless of how one may or may not embrace this view about the so-called special material, the contribution this essay looks to make per-tains primarily to the methodological underpinnings to interpreting apoc-alyptic symbolism within the first Gospel Inevitably, the question arises as to how one identifies apocalyptic symbolism within a narrative 109 I can only make a few parting comments at this point: first, one must look to the narrative itself to see if and how the author himself gives indication that the reader has left the narrative plane of the Gospel We see that Mat-thew, in our example above, propels readers from Golgotha, to Jerusalem, likely to the Mount of Olives, back to Golgotha and from Friday to Easter Sunday and back to Friday all within the span of a few verses It does not require extensive reflection to see that the author has himself directed readers to matters outside the narrative scene at Golgotha, only to return It does, however, require a degree of hermeneutical sensitivity to how one interprets what is reported for us in the narrative The second place one may go to identify apocalyptic symbolism within the narrative is, as I have identified above, any set of stock images that may be within the authors sphere of influence This requires a great deal of caution, for one must bear in mind that often features in Matthews narrative are highly symbolic and entirely historical in nature. 110 Nevertheless, looking to apocalyptic

108 Rowland, Apocalyptic, the Poor, and the Gospel of Matthew, 505 109 Thanks go to Wes Olmstead for raising this important question 110 The historical reality of highly symbolic, supernatural and even apocalyptic events is

within the world view of the author (1:25, 8:14, 2327; 14:1321; 28:6, etc ), but it seems that,


literature of earliest Christianity could be a helpful starting point Reve-lation is replete, of course, with symbolism and may offer interpreters a starting point for its myriad symbols Again, however, interpreters must account for the importance of differentiating genres between an apoca-lypse proper and apocalyptic features that appear within a narrative such as Matthew However one chooses to address these issues, interpreters of Matthew who encounter symbols that appear to be of an apocalyptic nature must equip themselves with a set of hermeneutical principles to govern how they handle these texts I have argued that this must include the recognition of apocalyptic symbols and some clear indication of what those symbols represent I hope this discussion has served to further our thinking on the matter

given the brevity of this remarkable account, the author does not intend to describe it to any extent Hagner points to what he perceives as a question of historical plausibility of this ac-count, suggesting that the event makes little historical sense (Matthew, 2:851) But it does not seem that the author is intending to address the myriad questions left unanswered (questions raised by Hagner, Matthew, 2:850) Furthermore, that an author does not answer questions to the modern historians satisfaction does not seem to warrant dismissal of their historical veracity Moreover, that Matthew makes reference to what he perceives as a clearly historical event (the resurrection of Jesus, ) in the middle of this account may lend credence to the historical reliability of these manifestations from the authors perspective Importantly, the apocalyptic nature of these symbols introduces a degree of ambiguity that, when pressed to answer historical beyond what the evangelist himself has provided, runs the risk of flattening the symbolic purposes for which the symbols are employed

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Interpreting Apocalyptic Symbolism in the Gospel of Matthew · · 2018-02-19scientific models and employ language of “religious experience ” See Mark Batluck, “Religious Experience